…The bill in CT, pending before an #education cmte, is 1 of a raft of measures advancing nationwide that seek to do things like prohibit #BookBans or forbid the #harassment of school & public librarians…. Legislators in 22 mostly blue states have proposed 57 such bills so far this year, & 2 have become #law….
The #Brevard#schoolBoard is choosing to follow badly worded laws, written vaguely on purpose, massive in scope, to follow a #ChristianNationalist agenda to #indoctrinate#students, while ignoring that these same laws would ban virtually every book from our classrooms and libraries.
A record number of titles face calls for censorship, by Millie Giles, David Crowther
"...Although the number of affected titles has grown dramatically, as groups increasingly target multiple books at once, overall censorship demands dropped slightly, down 2% to 1,247. Literature concerning race and gender was particularly contested, with autobiographical graphic novel Gender Queer named the most challenged library book of the year.
Public libraries are now the primary battleground for proposed bans: the number of titles targeted for censorship at libraries rose by 92%, compared with 11% at schools. Moreover, librarians now face harsh penalties, including potential fines and imprisonment in several states, for distributing books that are deemed inappropriate..."
Of course by "inappropriate" they mean accurate history about people of color, other faiths, and lgbtq folks. Christianity can't compete.
If you care about books, about libraries, and about your own freedom to read (and write) whatever the hell you want, it behooves you to pay attention. Currently, Kelly Jensen is the only journalist devoted to this beat, 24/7, for several years now.
Here's her call to action: pay attention and show up locally; don't hope for someone else to stand up for your rights.
Double the #BookBans in half the time, via BookRiot:
"PEN’s report confirms that book bans are happening nationwide. The state’s political leanings don’t matter: 42 states, both red and blue, reported book bans in public schools over the three years of PEN’s record keeping."
"the #banning of #books, #magazines, #newspapers and #music, the outlawing of the #freedom to read and write and listen, the censoring of educational materials while criminalizing educators and librarians, and repressing speech — have roots in the anti-literacy laws of colonial slaveholding #America...
States where there [have been] attempts to ban more than 100 books include: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
"The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color."
“Librarians are being harassed in private Facebook groups. They’re receiving pressure from within and outside the school.”
But bookstores, libraries and book lovers of all kinds came together to fight back against the censorious, so-called READER act. From correspondent Matthew Patin: https://www.texasobserver.org/the-booksellers-revolt/
"When confronted with basic questions on '60 Minutes,' the group appeared ill-prepared and stumped and alleged their critics were trying to 'marginalize us.'"
Chamber music has been around since the late 1700s, so it may be difficult to give it a contemporary feel. But the Apollo Chamber Players in Houston intend to do just that, with each musical piece a response to Texas's status as one of the states with the most banned books in the country. “I really do think that going at controversial subjects, if you will, with an angle of musical compassion, can hopefully open the doorways to people listening to each other," ensemble co-founder and violinist Matthew J. Detrick said. NPR has more: https://flip.it/0NDHLz #Culture#Music#Texas#BookBans#Bookstodon
Article from the Dallas Morning News about the Keller ISD's cancellation of a high school production of "The Laramie Project".
Noting also for the record, the far right Patriot Mobile-backed board members who likely pushed for this were also recently responsible for sneaking an evangelical documentary film crew into a high school, to the outrage of many parents.
The Roman Inquisition in the 1500s was constantly complaining about its desperate lack of personnel (not enough Inquisitors, not enough censors to read books, not enough police) as it tried to keep up with the exponentially-growing flood of books enabled by the newfangled #PrintingPress. Why would such an organization waste hundreds of man-hours per copy on crossing out pages when they could have trivially burned the book and moved on?
"Not only does reviewing large numbers of books take away from the work librarians usually do, but in states like Texas where public-sector employees like teachers are prohibited from collective bargaining, librarians are not paid overtime for the work, according to Foote."
#BookBans are just another tactic in the far right's "flood the zone with shit" strategy. It's also tied to their goal of dismantling public institutions.